Chapter 23

"Brother, Brother, my mom agreed to let me act...!"

At the filming site of *The Curse*, from a distance, Kim Hengze rushed in, shouting loudly. Lee Jung-hui quickly turned his head and made a gesture for him to be quiet. At first, he was still watching the performance on the monitor, but after a while, he finally reacted and softly cursed.

Actually, this result was not surprising. Originally, Kim Tae-hee, who was against it, chose to watch with a sense of schadenfreude because of him. And Kim Hengze's mother, his aunt who doted on him, would absolutely trust him the most.

"Brother, Brother!" Kim Hengze ran up to him, still excited. Lee Jung-hui looked at him helplessly. He wanted to say something but didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm, so he said casually, "I know, don't make a fuss!"

His eyes were still fixed on the monitor like Ahn Byung-gi's, but his mind had already wandered. This was the second unpredictable event that was now certain. The problem was, if one more happened, he would be done for...

"Hey, hey, Jung-hui!" At this moment, Ahn Byung-gi called him several times and even poked him, making him finally react. Seeing Ahn Byung-gi looking at him with confusion, he scratched his nose awkwardly, "Uh, what's up?"

Ahn Byung-gi smiled helplessly but repeated, "I feel something is off here, but I don't know why. So I wanted to ask you, what do you think?"

These days, besides studying, Lee Jung-hui had basically been hanging around the filming site of *The Curse*, hoping to get another system reward. Unfortunately, while he did give Ahn Byung-gi some decent suggestions, he didn't get a single reward.

The only benefit was that Ahn Byung-gi took him more seriously, which was why he was asking Lee Jung-hui.

"Oh, this!" Lee Jung-hui understood and smiled, "Yeah, coincidentally, I was just thinking about this. Even though you interrupted me, I already have a rough idea."

Then, under Ahn Byung-gi's expectant gaze, he asked him to replay the scene they had just shot. It was a segment where Jung Jun's character was killed by a malevolent spirit in a phone booth. After watching it, he said, "Overall, the scene is handled quite well, but Jung Jun dies without showing anything, which, while eerie, feels a bit empty. But if we add a shadow..."

Pointing to the last scene on the screen, he continued, "Right here, at the end, add a woman's shadow. Then, have the shadow twist and disappear. Even better, when Jung Jun is terrified, use the lighting to add his own shadow behind him..."

After he finished, Ahn Byung-gi was silent for a long time, and Lee Jung-hui didn't interrupt, knowing that Ahn Byung-gi was thinking.

After a while, Ahn Byung-gi suddenly clapped his hands and stared at Lee Jung-hui with bright eyes, excitement in his gaze, "Ghosts don't have shadows. The shadow represents Eun-ju's resentment, and Jung Jun's shadow represents his inner darkness, the original sin of his fear, which is a result of his past actions..."

Lee Jung-hui smiled, feeling a sense of satisfaction talking to someone who understood, and nodded, "This way, the theme or the artistic value will be elevated!"

"Right!" Ahn Byung-gi laughed heartily. Even though it was a horror film, the artistic quality still mattered, and this was improving the overall quality of the film.

He patted Lee Jung-hui's shoulder excitedly, "Good job, kid!" Then he called the crew and actors to reshoot the missing part.

Ding, Ahn Byung-gi was happy, and Lee Jung-hui finally received what he had been waiting for. The Devil Entertainment notification box appeared again, and this time it was good news, making him feel elated after hearing Kim Hengze's news.

"Dear player, hello! Because of your continuous assistance to Director Ahn Byung-gi, *The Curse* has seen a quality improvement. Therefore, *The Curse*’s future achievement will increase by 3%, and your directing skill has advanced to the beginner level. The system rewards you with 2 achievement points, and your prestige value increases by 1..."

Wow, what a bounty! Lee Jung-hui was overjoyed. A 3% increase in future achievement would directly impact the box office, and with the upgrade in directing skills, he suddenly understood more about the director's role.

Then there were the achievement points. Adding these 2, he now had 13. Most importantly, the prestige value.

Prestige value represents the recognition or goodwill others have towards you. The higher the prestige value, the more respect and affection you receive, making it easier to accomplish tasks. For example, when doing the same task, you would get more help, more recognition, and more praise...

However, if your prestige value is negative, you will face obstacles and even insults, which would increase your destruction value.

Fortunately, the initial prestige value was zero, but this was enough to make the previous Lee Jung-hui worry about it turning negative. Now, with 1 point, he had some leeway...

It was Women's Day, and it was almost ten o'clock. The scene was almost over, so Lee Jung-hui said goodbye to Ahn Byung-gi and took Kim Hengze home.

In the car, Kim Hengze looked at him with admiration, "Brother, you seem even more capable than the director!"

Lee Jung-hui chuckled, "I just have occasional flashes of inspiration, but the director does it from start to finish. Understand?"

Turning the steering wheel onto Teguk-ro, he continued, "Since you've decided to act and your aunt has agreed, you should work hard from now on. Otherwise, I won't be lenient with you!"

"Got